20181225.0430

On 20 December 2018, Madison Iszler's "Dodging Dogs, San Antonio Mail Carriers Deliver the Holiday Goods" appeared in the online San Antonio Express-News. The article portrays the labors of postal workers during the winter holidays, focusing on the experience of a long-time worker in San Antonio's North Side. The joys and challenges of the work receive attention, with engagement in communities being the key example of the former and dogs the latter; San Antonio is evidently among the worst cities in the United States for dogs attacking postal carriers. In all, however, the work of the US Postal Service is presented favorably, both as a rewarding endeavor and as done by good people.
Iszler's article is another I hope to remember when I teach profile-writing again, because it is a useful example of such work. There is a clear central idea carried forward in the piece, as well as testimonial and other information to support that idea. Too, while that information is clearly made to connect to the central idea, motions to do so are not heavy-handed; they are clear without being obtrusive. It is something a great many writers would do well to emulate, including a great many who are praised for their ostensible subtlety. (I am not unaware of the irony of my criticism of others' work. I'd be in a better position had I more of my own work, and done well, in publication where it might have been rejected.)
The article is also good in that it looks at working folks with no small esteem. The emphasis on the workers' integration with the communities they serve, their constancy and connectedness, serves as a useful reminder that it is through the labors of such people that society functions. If there is to be a good civil society, it is because of such people and the institutions they collectively constitute. This is not to say that there are not bad postal workers--there are, just as there are bad people of all professions (and some might say more in some than others)--or that the US Postal Service does not have its problems--it does, as do all institutions (and some might say more than others). It is, however, to say that it seems to be more to the good than the ill, at least as it is now (I am not enough up on its history to speak to more of that), and an article that highlights its good qualities is a welcome thing.
And I suppose I would be remiss if I did not make any mention of the holiday being celebrated today across much of the world. Though this little piece is written into a buffer, drafted in advance of its publication, I know that the today of its release is one that finds a great many people occupied with other things, some of which I will share. I do not share all of them, to be sure; it has not been as a narrative persona wholly distinct from my actual self that I have written my hymns against the stupid god. But for those who find joy in this day, I hope they find it in abundance.